Convertible bed



J. 0. FOWLER.

CONVERTIBLE BED.l

APPLICATION FILED ocT. 20,-1919.

1,372,344, u y Pawnd Mar.22,1921.

UNITED STATES JONATHAN o. FOWLER, or New Yoan, N. Y.

CONVERTIBLE BED.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented luall.. 22, 19,21.

Application filed October 20, 1919.` Serial No. 332,047.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN O. FowLEn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Convertible Bed, of which the following is a specification, the same being a f ull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to furniture devices such as are convertible for the purpose of serving for different functions in apartments where a small amount of house room is available, or where it is necessary or desirable to economize in the cost of house furnishing, and particularly to articles having foldable bed compartments, as for example a structure that may be used at will as a library table, or as a folding bed having a `thin detachable mattress, the said article being constructed and arranged to provide a table complete in itself (with or without the combination therewith of the bed)` and serviceable in use as such, and also to afford at will a comfortable bed, the latter being adapted to be lowered whereby the table may be made high enough to afford more clearance to the knees than is usual in articles of this description. In addition to the obi jects above described, the invention has for its object to simplify the construction -of suoli a piece of furniture, to render it readily convertible, and to adapt it more completely to its several uses, and also to provide certain details and features of construction to increase the efficiency and desirability of the same. i

To attain the said desired and other ends, the invention consists in the construction,

arrangement and operation of parts herein after more fully set forth and shown in the drawings, illustrative of one embodiment of the invention, which accompany and form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of my table-bed adapted for use as a table.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the device with the bed frame unfolded and made up so as to be used as a bed; i

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the folded bed within the table body, the bed lowering means being omitted for clearness of illustration;

Fig. l is an elevation of the unfolded bed;

.Fig. 5` is a fragmentary section of the front of the table body; and

Fig. 6 is an elevation, partly in section, of the bed raising and lowering devices, the folding parts of the bed frame and mattress being oinittedto `clearly show the functions of the said devices.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all Athe views. i

Referring particularly to the drawings, l denotes the body of a table, which table is adapted to furnish a complete article of furniture of itself, irrespective of the use of the same as a bed, as illustrated in Fig. l, in which table body is formed a preferably rectangular compartment and comprising a frame or casing consisting of a plurality of parts, as a rear wall, and side walls connected to and extending at right angles therefrom, thereby leaving an open front and top portion of the table proper. The latter has a closure comprising a preferably slidable and hinged cover or top portion 2, and a foldable front panel 3 hinged to the cover, the lower part of the` table proper being left open. The cover or top 2, which may serve as a means of opening and closing the table body, and thereby form a part of the frame or casing ofthe table, preferably rests on the upper edges of the table frame or casing and has a limited reciprocating movement there on, and it is hinged to thelatter at the rear portion thereof `in order to be swung upwardly at the termination and completion ofthe said reciprocal movement so as to allow the bed contained within the said compartment to be raised and lowered and also unfolded at will.

Although I describe one convenient means of accomplishing the said functions in order to explain the invention, yet the latter is not to be regarded as being limited to the said details of construction and operation, as it resides in any means by which the bed, as an entirety or the inner section thereof, may be raised and lowered within a bed compartment or held suspended therein.

In the body of the table is located in a folded relation the ordinary threesection bed frame used in articles of this description comprising (l) a non-longitudinally movable bed section 6 forming the head of the bed which is held by, and rlies right side up in practically horizontal position within, the table body adjacent to the lower portion` thereof, (2) links 7, (K3) a middle frame see.-

` The end walls of the table body preferably extend only to the joint between the head and middle sections of the unfolded bed iframe.v A thin flexible mattress 11 and mattress lsupporting spring 12 may be carried by the said bed frame. vThe said links 7 and 9 may carry brace bars or spreaders, as trusses or struts 14, pivoted at 13 to support and hold the bed frame in proper and operative position and lmay have .central depending portions to allow the 'spring and mattress to yield somewhat owing to the weight of the person occupying the bed. VThe outer edges of the brace bars carried by the links 9 may be encircled by the upper portions of legs 15, the said pair of legs at opposite sides of the bed being connected together by stays 17'. At the extreme end of the bed frame, legs 16 are positioned which may also be connected by stays 17. The latter legs are pivoted to the outer bed frame sectionl 10 and when in vertical position are braced against accidental folding movement by brace links 18 which are formed with locking slots in whichY pins projecting from the frame work. When the parts are in the position just described the bed may be made up as illustrated in Fig. 2. j

then in a folded relation the inner end section 6 0f the bed frame, which practically forms a lower closure for the casing, is held within the body of the table while the other pivotally' connected sections are being folded thereon so as to bring'the outerend section 10 right side up below the inverted middle section 8, the said sections being each approximately one third the length of the bed (the foot section being supported entirely by and practically horizontally above the vhead section and disposed between the intermediate section and the head section) the folding legs cooperating with said body to support the bed frame when open at a height which will be sufficient for a bed of ordinary height in a manner more fully hereinafter set forth, all of the said parts being connected in a foldable condition.

TheV mattress 11 is of'a thickness to fold readily with the legs ofthe frame, the whole forming, when folded, a concealed rectangular bundle or flattened roll, the sides of the bed forming the ends of the roll so that the length is vthat of the width of the bed and its width is thatrof the length ofthe bed sections. The middle and end sections 8 and 1'0of the bedy may serve to permit, only when the bed is unfolded, the use of the Same as a seat for entering and leaving the unfolded bed, in which condition alone can Vthe structure be used as a seat or abed.

It has been found in practice that a tablebed, such as so far described, must, in order to sustain a bed frame and mattress, necessarily have such a deep body portion that when the top part thereof is of the right height for use as a library or writing table, the lower edges of the table will. hang so far down as to strike the knees of anyone that is using the table for writing purposes. 0n the other hand, if the said body portion of the table is raised high enough to provide knee clearalice for a person sitting in front thereof, the top of the table will be too high for convenience in writing, and the unfolded bed will also be too high from the fioor to be used in comfort-especially in entering and leaving the same-as the bed frame in this case mustl be considerably higher than an ordinary bed or seat.

I have therefore found it desirable to provide preferably automatically actingr means-one example of which is herein described-to lower and raise the bed frame within the table body and to thus maintain the former at different heights from the Hoor, as for instance, by moving the same when the table body is beingr opened preparatory to the unfolding of the bed.

he aforesaid movements of the cover itself may be attained by any suitable means adapted to perform the said functions, but the mechanism I prefer to use comprises the following elements:

Brackets 21 which depend from the side portions of the cover 2, and which may be folded against the raised cover as indicated in Fig. 6, carry pins 23 which work in angle bars 22 positioned at the upper inner faces of the sides or ends of the table body. The lower parts of each of the brackets are bifurcated so as to form a yoke within the arms of which`which may be resilient-*lie bars 2S having flanges or pins 38 on opposite sides of the said yokes. Lateral or upward movement of the cover when first moved rearwardly is prevented by the pins 23 and bars 22 which hold the cover securely when the same is in a partially or entirely closed or forward relation, and the said parts may, if desired be then held in a locked position by locking devices as spring stops 27 which may pass through the bars 22 at the rear of the pins 23 which may thus serve as automatic keys to prevent movemjent of the closure by accidentally leaning against it, and which locking devices may be unlocked by an increased pressure on the said closure.

Upon pushing the cover 2 in a. rearward direction it will travel a predetermined limited dist-ance until the pins 23 will pass away from the bars 22 and strike abutments 3 5 carried by the sides of the table body. In

ord'er to raise the cover 2 after the pins 23 are freed from the bars 22, `I prefer to use the following mechanism: At each side oi the table body a hinge `4 is attached to the lower face of the cover by brackets 24 at the other end of which hinges are located pivots 5 which are held in slots 30 at the respective inner side faces of the body. Upon the cover being `pushed rearwardly to the extreme limit described, the said cover may be raised and swung upwardly and rearwardly bythe hinges 4 and the pivots `-which will now rest at the extreme end of the slots 30-so that the cover will assume its open position as indicated in Figs. 2, 4 and 6. A stay 25 having one end attached to the cover and the other extremity working in a slot 26 may assist in governingr and steadying` the swinging action of the cover 1n its opening and closing movements.

The bars 28 at the opposite sides of the table body have slots 37 which encircle pins 32 in the disks 36, and the movement of said bars and consequent movement of the disks is governed by the movement of the brackets 21 carried by the cover 2. The end of the brackets 21 lie between pins or anges 38 at one end ofthe bars 28, the opposite eX- tremity of the latter carrying slots 37 within which lie the pins32 of the disks 36, the parts being so arranged that when the cover is moved rearwardly the bars 28 will push the pins 32 to the left and cause the disks 36 to make a partial rotation, and when the cover is moved forwardly again, the said bars will carry the pins 32 to the right hand and so cause another partial rotation of the disks in an opposite direction. A pair of secondary or supplemental disks 34 are connected with the `disks 36 by links 33 and consequently all of the said disks will move in unison. The bars 28 may be also maintained in place and held in operative post tion by suitable devices as guide pins 31.

Hangers 39 positioned at opposite sides of the table body are pivoted to each of the disks 34 and 36, the other end of which preferably support the opposite sides of the bed Yframe section 6 which hangers may be hinged at 40 to allow the bed to move up and down without lateral movement and preferably have spring sections 41 so as to support the bed in a resilient relation. The bed.

frame, which is suspended adjacent to the upper part of the table body, may be raised and lowered by the hangers 39 according to the distance the disks 34 and 36 are rotated respectively in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions by the reciprocal movement of the` cover 2. In Fig. 6 the bed is open and the bed section 6 is shown as in its lowest position, and as the disks 34 and 36 are rotated clockwise by the closing movement of the cover 2, it will beseen that the pivots 42 and hangers 39 will first be moved a little to the left whereupon the rear part of the said bed bottom will contact the inner face of the rear wall of the compartment and the further rotation of the said disks will cause the bed section `to rise vertically on account of the yielding movement of the springs 40 and the resistance afforded by the said rear wall. The movement of the bed section being therefore at first slightly sidewise and then straight up is a substantially vertical one. If desired, the bed may be hung so as to lie in an inclined although substantially horizontal relation as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, and in lieu of disks 34 and 36, bell cranks or two-arm wheels may be used as indicated by dotted lines at 43 in the said ligure. Obviously the bed may be raised and lowered within the table body by the use of resilient suspension means, as 41, the said springs being distended by the weight ol the person lying on the bed. It will be observed that whether the bed frame is suspended from the disks 34 and 36, or whether it is hung by theV use of resilient means, as springs 41, the bed frame is held in a movable relation and not maintained at a fixed distance from the Hoor. i

In opening the table body I `first lold the front panel 3 over the front of the cover 2 and then push the same rearwardly to a limited extent, after which the cover may be swung around so as to occupy a substantially vertical position. The front panel 3 may slide in grooves 19 at the lower face of the cover and have hinges 20 by means of which when drawn outwardly or forwardly, the said front panel may be folded over on the cover as indicated by dottedlines in Fig. 6 soas to lie upon the upper face of the cover as represented in said ligure, or else on the lower face thereof as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. After the table body has been opened in the manner described, thev bed may be unfolded as represented in Fig. 4.

When it is desired to inclose the bed frame and mattress within the table body again, the sections 10 and 8 are folded over the section Gand the cover 2 swung around so as to lie horizontally. `By now pushing the cover forward to close the table body or compartment the brackets 21 in their reciprocat ing movement will move the bars 28 :forward and thus rotate the disks 34 and 36 partially, by which movement the hangers 39 will be moved upwardly and thus raise the bed frame as an entirety to its original position Within the compartment of the table body, the latter `action thus being caused by the action of some of the movable parts of the table. i

The invention thus comprises a rectangular compartment comprising a plurality of parts by the reciprocating movement of one of the said parts-the latter preferably forming a closure-the rectangular foldably `related bed may be 'moved as an entirety.

The said supportingr and'inclosing body or structure is adapted to form a complete article of furniture of itself and is constructed and arranged toprevent the use of the article asa bed or seat except when the bed frame is unfolded. The said bed is preferably suspended or supported adjacent to the upper portion of the body -or compartment of the table, and the said suspension means which may be resilient is adapted to sustain the lower bed frame section in a practically horizontal position and may serve to raise and lower the bed upon the operation of the closure, and to sustain the inner bed section at different heights from the floor without altering its practically horizontal position and irrespective of the unchangeable relative height of the unfolded bed sections.` Y

One of the vadvantageous features of my invention resides in the fact that I provide an article of furniture containing a folding bed andl having a closure therefor, the parts being'so arranged that the closure may be locked'in a closed relation.y I also provide means whereby the said closure may not become accidentally unlocked or opened, as by a person leaning against or carelessly push- I ing or pulling the closure.

I wish Ait to be understood that I do not desireV to be limited to the particular use or the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art.

V-hat I claim as my invention is 1. In an article of the class described, a casing comprising a plurality of parts forming a compartment, a foldably related sectional bed vcontained therein, and'means to simultaneously. and automatically move' all the bed sections as an entiretysubstantially vertically andthe lower section to the proper bedv height by a horizontal movement of one of the parts ofthe casing without changing the relative horizontal position ofy said sections, and also bed supporting means sustained independently vof the movable part.

2.'In an article of the class described, a

' casiniT com Vrisinefa luralit of arts forms .p s P .v

ing acompa'rtment, abcd comprisinga plurality of folded bed sections Vcontained therein, supports 'therefor and means to move the bed sections while in' their original position and in a horizontal relation to the proper bedheight bymoving one of the parts of the casing in one ,direction at right angles to that ofthe said movement of the bed lsections and to move'the bed sections while y still in the same position yand in a horizontal Abed comprising a foldably related three secion frame and a mattress to form when folded a substantially rectangular bundle or roll having the center section uppermost, a supporting and inclosing structure therefor adapted to prevent use of said frame as a bed or seat except when the sections are unfolded, and means to move the bed to the proper bed height without relative movement of the sections thereof and as an entirety in a horizontal relation within said structure at will by a rearward horizontal movement of one of the parts of the said inclosing structure.

t. In an article of the class described, a closure, a bed comprisino` a foldably related frame and mattress to form when folded a substantially rectangular bundle or roll hav-V ing an intermediate section uppermost, a supporting and inclosing structure therefor adapted to prevent use of said frame as a bed or seat except when the sections are unfolded, and means to move the bed to the proper bed height as an entirety in a horizontal relation within the said structure at will, said means being adapted to be operated by said closure.

5. In an article of the class described, a compartment having an open bottom, a bed section contained therein, means adjacent to the upper part of the compartment to suspend and to form the whole support for the section, and means comprising a part of the compartment to lower and raise the bed seetion in a substantially vertical direction ,Y

through said bottom.

G. In an article of the class described, a compartment having an open side portion, a bed comprising a foldably related frame contained therein, means to support the bed sections located entirely above the latter, and means within the compartment to move the inner bed section in a substantially vertical direction to the proper bed height and to maintain the same immovable in said position, and means to maintain the other bed sections when unfolded through the said opening in alinement with the said unmoved inner section.

7. In an article of the class described, a body having an open bottom, a bed section therein, devices positioned at the upper part of the body to suspend the bed section and forming the only means to sustain the weight thereof, additional bed sections superposed on the said bed section, and means to simultaneously move all the bed sections in a substantially vertical direction and to maintain the first named bed section in said position while the superposed bed sections are being unfolded.

S. In an article of the class described, a compartment, a bed section contained therein in a horizontal relation, and resilient means to suspend the bed section, and also means to lower and raise the bed section while maintaining its horizontal position.

9. In an article of the class described, a body, a folding bed structure contained therein comprising an inner section lying practically horizontally within the body, and foldably related bed sections adapted to be unfolded to form a bed, and means to respectively sustain the said inner bed section without lateral movement at dierent heights from the floor from its highest to its lowest position without altering its practically horizontal position and irrespective of the height of the unfolded bed section.

10. In an article of the class described,a table, a folding bed structure contained therein comprising an inner section lying within the table, and foldably related bed sections adapted to be unfolded to form a bed, and means forming a part of the table whereby the said inner bed section may be moved in a substantially vertical direction and respectively sustained at the proper bed height and at other heights from the Hoor irrespective of the relatively unchangeable height of the unfolded bed sections.

11. In an article of the class described, a compartment, a closure therefor, a bed and suspension means for the latter comprising a revoluble body adapted upon being actuated by the closure and partially rotated to lower and raise the bed at will, and a connection to the bed whereby the latter will move substantially vertically.

12. Inan article of the class described, a

- compartment, a folding bed structure con tained therein, a closure therefor, and means adapted to move the bed in a horizontal relation substantially vertically upon operation of the closure, and sprin controlled means to hold the closure in position and to allow the movement of the closure upon the `application of considerable force.

13. In an article of the class described, a compartment, a folded sectional bed frame and to maintain the same in the same position while the other sections are unfolded from above the same by independently operated means, a closure for the compartment, and means to operate the first named means by a sliding movement of the closure.

15. In an article of the class described, a compartment, a folded sectional bed frame contained therein, means to move the lower and superposed bed frame sections substantially vertically while in a horizontal relation Within the said compartment until the said lower Vsection shall assume the proper bed height, and to maintain the latter in the same position while the other sections are being unfolded, and means to hold the upper bed frame sections only positioned exterior of the compartment when unfolded, and in `alinement with the unmoved lower section,

a closure for the compartment, and means to hold the closure in a moved relation suiiicient to allow the passing thereby of the up-` per bed frame sections while being folded and unfolded.

In testimony of the foregoing specification I do hereby sign the same in the cit of New York, count and State of New ork this 17th day of ctober, 1919.

JONATHAN O. FOWLER.

Witnesses:

C. V. Bnn'rsorm, F. B. MAY. 

